Macy’s Names Chief Technology Officer To Lead eCommerce Teams

After serving as the VP of technology at The Home Depot, Naveen Krishna is heading to Macy’s to become the retailer’s chief technology officer. In his role, he will lead the company’s technology strategy, in addition to spearheading the teams that build the company’s eCommerce experience — among other functions, retail news source Chain Store Age reported.

“We are investing in technology to improve digital and mobile experiences, site stability, store technology and fulfillment and logistics improvements,” Macy’s President Hal Lawton said in an announcement. “Naveen’s track record in omnichannel retail makes him the perfect fit to lead the Macy’s technology organization at this critical time.”

Before working for Home Depot, Krishna oversaw Target’s web technology and operations. In addition, he worked in leadership positions at Deloitte Consulting and FedEx Kinko’s. With his latest position, Krishna will report to Lawton and work out of John’s Creek, Georgia — a technology hub for Macy’s.

The news comes as Macy’s has been ranked the top eCommerce destination for apparel in SimilarWeb’s latest index. The retailer’s website has 55.9 million average monthly visits, retail news source Retail Dive reported. Still, Macy’s is losing market share to competitors such as Amazon, according to Coresight Research. The think tank found a decline of 410 basis points in the retailer’s apparel share as its revenues declined by $3 billion from 2012 to 2017.

Of survey respondents who said they are spending less at Macy’s than they have in the past, 53 percent of Amazon Prime members reported they shop at Amazon instead, compared to 22 percent of respondents who weren’t members of Prime. Even so, there are opportunities for retailers like Macy’s in the mobile arena. According to SimilarWeb, more than half of online traffic for general merchandise originates from mobile platforms.

Additionally, the news comes as Macy’s plans to roll out mobile checkout in its brick-and-mortar stores. The technology, which is powered by the retailer’s mobile app, is expected to be deployed to all of Macy’s full-line stores by the end of the year, CNBC has reported.